desperado1uk

I saw Traffic just after the Oscars. I had had a chance to go and see it previously yet had opted to go and see Hannibal instead. More fool me. This movie is one, nay, the best movie of the year. If I run the Oscars, this would have beaten Gladiator. Steven Soderbergh cements his status as one of the hottest directors around, and his knack of perfect casting (see Out of Sight) Here, Traffic is about three stories but not in a Pulp Fiction type way, the stories are constantly interchanged. First, set in Tijuana, we saw Benicio Del Toro (outstanding) trying to keep the piece in a city torn apart by bribery and drug wars.

Secondly, we see Michael Douglas as a judge who is fighting a public war against drugs unaware that his daughter is hooked on the stuff. And thirdly, we see Catherine Zeta-Jones as a society wife trying to recover following her husband's arrest for drug-related crimes. All of the performances were strong, with special mention going to Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, and Erika Christiansen.

Best Bit: The assasin-stalk-sniper-car park sequence. Outstandingly directed by Soderbergh.

Let's face it, this should have been Guy Ritchie's Pulp Fiction, if Lock, Stock... was his Resevoir Dogs. But did Tarantino, for his follow up, remake Reservoir Dogs? No. This is the problem that Ritchie faces in this film. It is way too similar to the previous one to compare. Just replace shotguns with diamonds. However, having said this, Snatch is very enjoyable. The introduction of Americans works well, with Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, and Brad Pitt all on top form. As for the Brits, Jason Statham is good, Vinnie Jones better (his opening "Bonjour?" cracked me up.), but the real excellent piece of acting here was Alan Ford, who was outstanding.

Best Bit: "Anything to declare?"

I didn't really know what to expect from this. I had seen Army of Darkness, and thought it fun if a bit stupid. Having been told this was better, I cinically settled down to watch it, and found myself enjoying it. Evil Dead 2 has to go down on the short list of sequels that are better than the original (which I have since seen and thought not as good. It is both dark, and very funny. Bruce Campbell was a very good lead, he reminded me of Jim Carrey. It is a great pity that he never found his way into more mainstream films. This isn't for everyone, but for those who like dark comedys with much body mutiliation, this is the perfect movie.

Best Bit: "Groovy."

This may be one of the nineties best movies. Fight Club is an outstandingly written, directed and acted movie, which will force anyone who sees it to take a harder line in self-examination. Edward Norton gives an outstanding performance as the Narrator (wrongly billed as "Jack" by some, Jack is the name of the character in the book he reads)Pitt provides some cracking fireworks as Tyler Durden, the man who turns the narrator's life upside-down. This is everything a good movie should be, funny, intelligent, and very, very quoteable.

Best Bit: "For your homework, you will start a fight and lose" - leading to the funniest recruitment scene in history.

This is the sort of 'great outdoors' movies that you can watch once, enjoy, and then promptly forget about. The movie provides a good sweep of Colorado, and the story - about a family trying to catch up with the gold rush - passable. However, when all the humans on stage are out acted by Bart the Bear, you know you are watching a straight-to-video movie. John Denver, the only recognisable actor, stares into space for long periods of times (probably writing a song for his next album), and all the others are Legends of the Fall rip-offs. However, the most amusing sequence in when Denver erects and furnishes a cabin in about an hour. Don't let me put you off, this is lightweight entertainment and good fun when there are nothing but repeats on the T.V.

Best Bit: Bart the Bear's dramatic drooling.

Okay, so seeing as this is directed by Paul Ververehoen (apologies if that's not how you spell it) I wasn't really suspecting much in the way of plot. However, this was severely crippled. It's got a straight A-B-C-D narrative with no attempts at plot twists. This is one of those films where you could spend hours screaming "Don't do that!" I am getting very tired of films where a scientist's reaction to a problem is "Oh s***" On the good side, the special effects ARE amazing, and Bacon gives a nice performance. However, we had the right to expect more.

Best Bit: Bacon's disappearance.